A former local law enforcement officer has been charged with trafficking heroin.

John Pelham Turner, 32, of Jack Lane in Nashville, was charged Wednesday by the Nash County Sheriff's Office with trafficking heroin by possession, transport and delivery and maintaining a vehicle for a controlled substance.

Turner — who left the Nashville Police Department in 2010 — was arrested by officers with the Tar River Regional Drug Task Force after they received word he would be in possession of two bricks — or 100 dosage units — of heroin. Turner was pulled over in Red Oak while driving a white Mercedes Benz, said Chief Deputy Brandon Medina of the Nash County Sheriff's Office.

A K-9 dog alerted officers to the drugs and officers found the two bricks in the trunk. Two empty bindles were located in Turner’s wallet along with a syringe in his sock, Medina said.

Turner was taken into custody without incident and given a $155,000 bond. He has a prior conviction of violating a protective order in 2016, according to the N.C. Public Safety Department.